Hungary's MOL Completes HUF 18 Billion Reconstruction of Danube Refinery's AV3 Unit

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 22, Hungary's MOL Group announced that the reconstruction of the AV3 atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit at the Danube Refinery had been completed, with a total project repair budget of HUF 18 billion. The unit was severely damaged in an October 2025 fire, after which MOL carried out a comprehensive reconstruction of the damaged structures, process equipment, electrical and control systems. The site has now entered the equipment clearance and pre-commissioning system testing phase, with production scheduled to gradually resume in October.

The reconstruction first involved demolishing the reinforced concrete structures damaged in the fire and completing the main structural construction anew, while restoring the related process equipment as well as the automatic control and electrical systems. A total of 27 new high-power pumps were installed, approximately 8 kilometers of process piping were replaced, and approximately 100 kilometers of cables were laid, involving multiple key equipment and utility interfaces within the crude oil distillation unit.

AV3 is part of the Danube Refinery's atmospheric and vacuum distillation system and is one of the core front-end units before crude oil enters subsequent refining processes. After the 2025 fire, other unaffected units at the Danube Refinery gradually resumed operation, but during the AV3 shutdown, the refinery's overall processing capacity remained at approximately 50%–55%. MOL had previously estimated that the AV3 outage would reduce crude oil processing capacity by approximately 250,000–300,000 tons per month.

After the completion of the reconstruction project, MOL will continue with system flushing, pressure testing, process control system and safety interlock function testing, and restore the related auxiliary power and utility supplies. AV3 also needs to undergo integrated commissioning with other related units at the Danube Refinery, and crude oil can only be reintroduced after operational safety checks are completed. The entire startup process will be carried out in stages.

The Danube Refinery is located in Százhalombatta, Hungary, and is one of MOL Group's core refining and petrochemical bases in the Central and Eastern European region, with a crude oil processing capacity of approximately 165,000 barrels per day, equivalent to approximately 8.1 million tons per year. Together with MOL's refining assets in Slovakia and Croatia, the refinery forms the group's downstream production system, with products mainly supplied to the Hungarian and Central and Eastern European markets.

In February this year, MOL disclosed that the AV3 reconstruction was expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026 and was expected to bring approximately USD 50 million in additional capital expenditure. After the completion of construction in September, the project entered the commissioning preparation phase, with production scheduled to gradually resume in October.